State judge dismisses HPD officer’s DUI case

A state judge this week dismissed drunken driving and hit-and-run charges against Honolulu police officer Brent Sylvester because the prosecutor had been unable to presentcertain key witnesses to testify against Sylvester in court.
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A state judge this week dismissed drunken driving and hit-and-run charges against Honolulu police officer Brent Sylvester because the prosecutor had been unable to present certain key witnesses to testify against Sylvester in court.

Sylvester was supposed to stand trial in District Court in Kaneohe on Tuesday on charges of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant and leaving the scene of a traffic accident that resulted in injury. The prosecutor asked the judge to reschedule the trial because the state has been unable to locate the occupants of the other car involved in the accident. The judge refused the request and dismissed the case with no opportunity for recharging.

Sylvester was facing up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine for the hit-and-run, and a jail term of between two and five days, a fine of between $150 and $1,000, and a one-year license revocation for drunken driving. His driver’s license has already been administratively revoked for two years because he refused to submit to an alcohol test. Sylvester is challenging the revocation.

Tuesday was the second time the prosecutor had asked to postpone the trial because of the unavailability of the witnesses. Initially
the trial was scheduled for Aug. 30.

The prosecutor said he believes the witnesses are avoiding getting served with subpoenas to testify.

The driver of the other car told police he was hesitant to call them when his car was rear-ended on the H-1 freeway because he had only a learner’s permit and neither of the other two occupants in the vehicle was a licensed driver.

The driver and his two passengers told police they were traveling east near the Aiea offramp early the morning of April 3 when the collision occurred. They said Sylvester fled and that they followed him to Sylvester’s house in Kailua. They told police when they confronted Sylvester outside his home that he smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred and he could not stand up straight or walk steadily. The driver and his front-seat passenger said they suffered neck injuries from the accident.

State law requires law enforcement officers to test the breath, blood or urine of drivers involved in crashes that result in death or injury. Sylvester, a 13-year Honolulu Police Department veteran who worked in the department’s Traffic Division, refused to be tested, and his fellow officers did not force him. The department reassigned Sylvester to desk duty following his arrest.